58-THAMES

25th September 1964, Page 187

25th September 1964

Page 187

Page 188

Page 187, 25th September 1964 — 58-THAMES

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Ford Motor Co., Ltd., lwapside House, Cheapside, London, E.C.2.

NO new models are featured by Ford this year, the theme of the Stand being " special vehicles ". At one time, the story goes, you could have "any colour you like as long as it's black" from Ford, but now the company is at the other extreme and has a Special Vehicle Orders section to provide vehicles tailor-made to requirements. There are 11 models on the stand, ranging from a 5-cwt. van to a 17-ton-gross tractive unit and a 36-ft. passenger chassis. The last was introduced in 1963, so this is its first time at Earls Court and is the subject of a special display on the Ford stand, the chassis being suspended 6 ft. 6 in. above the floor, bridging another vehicle.

The most interesting goods exhibit is a low-loader chassis designed in conjunction with All Wheel Drive and Watney Mann. The vehicle is designed for delivering bottled beer and is mounted on a Thames Trader forward-control, 5-ton chassis with a wheelbase of 11 ft. G in. The deck height when fully laden is only 2 ft. 6 in., which is achieved by modifications to the frame; it is cranked behind the cab and a special rear axle and suspension, supplied by All Wheel Drive, is used. Tyre equipment at the rear is 7-00-12 twins. At the front, the axle and steering are from a 7-ton chassis and the tyres are 7-50-20.

A Thames 5-cwt. service van is featured and a 7-cwt. model has a reinforced-plastics insert tray made by Martin Walter Ltd. Two 15-cwt. models are shown: one is a van, the second a 12-seater personnel carrier. There are also two examples from the Trader normal-control range, these being a 3-tonner and a 7-tonner. In the Trader forwardcontrol range there is a 6-cu.-yd. tipper and the highest

capacity load carrier is a Trader 17-ton gross tractive unit which is based on the 7-ton tipper chassis.

Completing the goods display is a Clearway 3-ton delivery van, which is also making its first appearance at the Commercial Show and has a Garner body.